Sometimes amidst the buzz and whir of summer I find the simple things bring me back to the ground I am standing on. This week after a long hot day, with my mind churning through the list of things I forgot to do and the longer list of what I need to remember to do, Lovett suggested we go down to teach the ducks about water before dinner.
We tromped down to the chick brooder where they stay warm and dry, and have easy access to food and water and found Racey had already brought the ducks out into the cool grass to play, run about and learn to go in and out of the small tub we filled with water.
Ducks take a few weeks to grow their true feathers like chickens, and so they can get cold quickly if left to play in water for too long. A mother duck hen knows this well and lets them swim and play in shallow water for only short periods of time. So we attempt to mimic the same patterns.
Oh man do the ducks love water! We filled the trough and Zippy, the largest and only male of the group, jumped right in and started…you guessed it…zipping around in the water like a toy boat propelled by the hand of an enthusiastic child.
Each duck took its turn nipping, paddling and getting soaked through their “hatch fuzz” as we call it, which does not repel water like their adult feathers. After a few rounds through the “pond” we could see them fussing over grooming themselves, shivering and shaking and we decided it was time to put them back under the heat lamp to get warm.
“Thank you Ducks” we said as we walked home. Happy summer.
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